Othenio Lothar Franz Anton Louis Abel (June 20, 1875 – July 4, 1946) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

. Together with

Louis Dollo Louis Antoine Marie Joseph Dollo (Lille, 7 December 1857 – Brussels, 19 April 1931) was a Belgian palaeontologist, known for his work on dinosaurs. He also posited that evolution is not reversible, known as Dollo's law. Together with the Austria ...

, he was the founder of "

paleobiology Paleobiology (or palaeobiology) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the methods and findings found in both the earth sciences and the life sciences. Paleobiology is not to be confused with geobiology, which focuses more on the interactio ...

" and studied the life and environment of fossilized organisms.

Life

Abel was born in Vienna, the son of the architect Lothar Abel. Abel earned a PhD, after studying both law and science, from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

. He remained there as an assistant to

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

geologist

Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 - 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and t ...

, before being appointed a professor of paleontology. Three years later, he finished his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

thesis as a paleontologist at the

. From 1900 to 1907, he worked at the Geologische Reichsanstalt. In 1907, Abel became an extraordinary professor in Vienna, and from 1917 to 1934 he was a regular professor of paleontology in Vienna. As such, he led several expeditions that gave him broad recognition, such as the Pikermi-expedition to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

in 1912, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

expedition (1925) and one to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

(1929). Abel became a member of the Leopoldina academy in 1935. From 1935 to 1940, he was a professor at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, after which he was retired, age 61. In 1942, he was appointed an honorary member of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft.

Scientific activity

Abel mainly studied

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

. He was a supporter of Neo-Lamarckist evolution. His main contribution to the field, however, was the formulation, together with

, of

, which combines the methods and findings of the

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

with the methods and findings of the

earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphere ...

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. From 1928 onwards, Othenio Abel was the publisher of a journal dedicated to

, ''Paläobiologica''. In 1914, Abel proposed that fossil

dwarf elephant Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea which, through the process of allopatric speciation on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around ) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example ...

s inspired the myth of giant

Cyclopes In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

, because the center nasal opening was thought to be a cyclopic eye socket. In 1920 he was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three- to five-year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. L ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

. He also showed great interest in

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ...

remains at the so-called " Dragon's Cave" near

Mixnitz Pernegg an der Mur is a municipality in the district of Bruck-Mürzzuschlag in Styria, Austria. It is home to the famous Drachenhöhle cave and the famous chess player Laurenz Gierer. The operatic soprano A soprano () is a type of classica ...

. Abel was an advocate of

orthogenesis Orthogenesis, also known as orthogenetic evolution, progressive evolution, evolutionary progress, or progressionism, is an obsolete biological hypothesis that organisms have an innate tendency to evolve in a definite direction towards some g ...

, he believed that there were trends in evolution that were internally programmed.

Political attitude and National Socialism

Already as a student, Abel took part in

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

riots at the University of Vienna, during the Badeni-crisis of 1897. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, now a professor, he gave voice to his fear of a power takeover by "Communists, Social Democrats and Jews and more Jews tied to both". As the journalist Klaus Taschwer publicized in 2012, Abel was responsible for the founding of a secret group of 18 professors that sought to frustrate the research and careers of left-wing and Jewish scientists.Klaus Taschwer, "Othenio Abel, Kämpfer gegen die "Verjudung" der Universität"
''

Der Standard ''Der Standard'' is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna. History and profile ''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first edition on 19 October 1988. German media company Axel Sprin ...

'', 9. Oktober 2012 The rise in violence of

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

student groups towards Jewish students in 1934 were met with sympathy by Abel. When such attacks began to be directed at

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and international students as well, Abel, now the university

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, was forced into early retirement by the

Austrofascist The Federal State of Austria ( de-AT, Bundesstaat Österreich; colloquially known as the , "Corporate State") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerical fascist Fa ...

board. This caused him to emigrate to Germany and accept the post in Göttingen. He visited Vienna again in 1939, after the ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

'' with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. After seeing how the

Nazi flag The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the ...

was shown at the university building, he pronounced this the "Happiest moment of his life". The new regime honored him with the newly created post of "Honorary Senator" of the University - an honour that was rescinded after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in 1945. A letter of recommendation for the Goethe Prize points out how Abel had always "fought in the first line" against the "Judaification" of the University.Taschwer, Klaus (2015). “Othenio Abel. Paläontologe, antisemitischer Fakultäts- und Universitätspolitiker,” In ''Universität - Politik - Gesellschaft'', edited by Mitchell G. Ash, and Josef Ehmer, 287–92. Vienna University Press. After the war, he was once again forced into retirement along with other prominent Nazi professors and spent his last days in Mondsee, then known as something of a "Nazi colony".

Selected writings

* ''Einige Monstrositäten bei Orchideenblüthen'' (1897) * ''Ueber einige Ophrydeen'' (1898) * ''Les dauphins longirostres du boldérien (miocène supérieur) des environs d'Anvers''. Brussels 1901 - 1931 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.16053 * ''Les odontocètes du Boldérien (miocène supérieur) d'Anvers''. Brüssel 1905 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.15923 *
Fossile Flugfische
' (1906) * "Neuere Anschauungen über den Bau und die Lebensweise der Dinosaurier." ''Berichte der Sektion für Paläozoologie'' 16. Dezemb (1908): 117–22. *
Die Morphologie der Hüftbeinrudimente der Cetaceen
'. Vienna 1907 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.16064 * "Die Rekonstruktion des ''Diplodocus''." ''Abhandlungen der K.K. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien'' 5 (1910). * "Über die allgemeinen Prinzipien der paläontologischen Rekonstruktion." Verhandlungen der zoologisch-botanische Gesellschaft zu Wien'' LX (1910): 141–46. * "Die Vorfahren der Vögel und ihre Lebensweise." ''Verhandlungen der zoologisch-botanische Gesellschaft zu Wien'' LXI (1911): 144–91. * ''Grundzüge der Paläobiologie der Wirbeltiere''. Stuttgart 1912 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61833 * ''Vorzeitliche Säugetiere''. Jena 1914 * ''Die Tiere Der Vorwelt.'' Leipzig & Berlin 1914. * ''Die Paläontologie in Forschung und Lehre''. Naturwissenschaften 3 (1915), 413-19 *
Paläobiologie der Cephalopoden aus der Gruppe der Dibranchiaten
' Jena 1916. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.46089 * ''Die Stämme der Wirbeltiere''. Berlin, Leipzig, 1919 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.2114 * ''Lehrbuch der Paläozoologie''. Jena 1920 * ''Lebensbilder aus der Tierwelt der Vorzeit''. Jena 1921 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61701 * ''Geschichte und Methode der Rekonstruktion vorzeitlicher Wirbeltiere''. Jena 1925 * ''Paläobiologie und Stammesgeschichte". Jena 1929 * ''Die Stellung des Menschen im Rahmen der Wirbeltiere''. 1931 * ''Vorzeitliche Lebensspuren''. Jena 1935 * ''Die Tiere der Vorzeit in ihrem Lebensraum''. Jena 1939 * ''Vorzeitliche Tierreste im Deutschen Mythus, Brauchtum und Volksglauben''. Jena 1939

Life

Scientific activity

Political attitude and National Socialism

Selected writings

References

Further reading